The Journey
by ifanybodyasksimreading
Summary: A hunting trip with Arthur turns horribly wrong, and Merlin must find a way to reverse the events that take place.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is my first story ever on fanfiction, so criticism is greatly appreciated! :) Enjoy!

To say that Merlin was having a bad day was a sever understatement. First, he had left for a hunting trip with Arthur, who unwittingly awakened a dragon like monster, who chased them to the edge of a 60 foot cliff, where all hell broke loose.

"Don't be such a girl, Merlin, I have a plan!" Arthur said, surprisingly calm.

" And just what, Arthur, is your brilliant plan! We are at the EDGE of a CLIFF and you have a PLAN! I don't suppose that just might involve jumping off the cliff away from that fire breathing THING, or perhaps maybe we'll just walk past it all causal like!" Merlin yelled, panic rising in his voice.

" Actually that was my plan! Good job Merlin! Perhaps your not as dimwitted as I thought you were!" Arthur said cheerfully. Arthur grabbed Merlin by the arm and shoved him off the cliff , jumping after him. Merlin cried out in shock before screaming,

" ARTHUR! I CAN'T SWIM!" At the top of his lungs. Panic filled Arthur, as they were only second away from hitting the water.

And cut! So, was it good, bad, ok? My writing usually improves once I get into the story a little, so criticism is appreciated! Any ideas are gladly accepted! Tell me if you want me to continue this please !


	2. Chapter 2

Next Chapter! Enjoy!

Any air in Merlin's lungs was knocked out of him once he and Arthur hit the water. He could feel the water rushing into his lungs as he tried to breath. Panic filled him as he tried to swim to the surface, and failed. The current swept him downstream and he slammed head first into a rock. Pain exploded in his head, and he began to lose conciseness. Just before he blacked out completely, he felt a hand grab him and he could feel himself moving upwards.

Arthur POV

The impact on the water knocked Merlin's arm out of Arthur's grasp as he was swept down the river at an alarming speed. He struggled to keep himself above the water as the current pulled him down, he then grabbed hold of a large rock and pulled himself onto it. Other rocks went across the river to the shore, so Arthur continued to pull himself from rock to rock, until he reached the shore, in not much time at all. Arthur was drained, he had no energy left, and fatigue settled in his muscles. Gathering the last of his strength, Arthur stood up and searched for any sign of Merlin. Then, he saw a blue blur smash into the side of a jagged rock down the river a ways, relief, then panic filled Arthur as he ran to where he had seen Merlin. As he reached the rock he pulled himself along the rocks, Looking for any signs. Here the current was almost nonexistent, the river formed something like a lake, with a small island in the center. Arthur dove down and swam to the bottom of the lake, searching for Merlin. He was growing frantic, when finally, he felt something. He grabbed ahold and hauled him up from the bottom of the lake, and to the shore. Merlin began to violently cough up water, taking in great lung fulls of air.

" I'm never ever going on a hunting trip with you again! " Merlin wheezed out.

" Don't get your hopes up Merlin, we still have to get back home before I even get to decide to drag you on a hunting trip. Besides, we wouldn't want you to miss out on the fun, now would we Merlin?" Arthur said . Little did they know, that the events that had just played out were not accidental, and that Someone was watching them.

I know these two chapters are painfully short, but they will get longer, believe me. So what did you think? Reviews inspire me, so please don't be shy. Any ideas you have are greatly appreciated, and will be most likely used if the person who came up with it permits it. Thanks for reading! R&R


	3. Chapter 3

Here's chapter 3! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

Nactel- thank you! I will try to slow things down a little to, thanks for telling me!:)

Merlin's busy saving the world- thanks for reviewing! I will check out your new story asap, and I will lengthen the chapters to! :)

So, please R&R! :) feedback is greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer- I don't own anything, This applies to all chapters.

So, without further ado, read on!

It was early, the sun had just begun to peek over the trees, and smoke drifted up from a small camp. Merlin and Arthur were discussing their predicament next to the fire.

"We told my father that we would arrive back in the castle in about three days time, so we can try to find a way over that cliff, which is unlikely, or, we can continue east to the next town, and then get help." Arthur said. Merlin was puzzling over this in his mind, and then after a long silence replied, " If we somehow find a way back up the cliff, we might run into the beast again, and then we'd be right back were we started. But, if we went off to find the next village, we might be able to get to a road back to Camelot." Merlin paused, thinking over it again. "But what's to say the people there will even help us? Some might even be out to cause you harm Arthur. I don't think we could take a risk like that." Arthur replied," I could disguise myself as a commoner! "

" Yes, but what do we have to disguise you with!" Honestly, Arthur really didn't think things through.

" Fine, so our other option is, stay here and wait for help, which will come in three days at least. I think we should get a feel for our surroundings, and start gathering food." Arthur said. He got up and walked away from the clearing, then turned to Merlin and said," Merlin, am I really that bad, that you think my own people would want to plan my death?" Arthur laughed, and Merlin muttered," Well, your not that bad, but people still try to kill you." Then he walked after Arthur, to start gathering roots and berries, and maybe catch a rabbit or two.

" Well done, Emrys, you have survived the monster I sent after you, but will you be able to protect your king from this!" A cloaked figure stepped out from the shadows of the cave, to a deep pool of cool water, and began to chant," fororlonginjoyu! Fororlonginjoyu !"

A brilliant white light shot out from the pool, forming a giant pure white dragon. " Your dragon lord heritage will not help you now, Emrys. And if this does not kill you, Arthur will know of your magic, and who knows, maybe he'll finish you off for me!" Evil laughter echoed through the cave, as the dragon flew out of the cave and towards the sky.

So there's chapter 3! The chapters will continue to get longer and longer so don't worry to much about how short they are. Also please please review! It doesn't matter if u just tell me I need to work on it a lot, because I like to know what u think, R&R


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Sorry for the wait, I was on a camping trip, and sadly, that means no Wi-Fi. So here's chapter 4! Enjoy!**

Merlin and Arthur had set up camp, and were sitting next to their campfire, were a rabbit was roasting on the fire. The sun was low in the sky, and the river churned peacefully in the background. Dark clouds rolled through the sky, and the air was chilled.

"Arthur, I swear, I will never, _ever,_ in my _entire_ life, go on a hunting trip with you, or any other trip for that matter," Merlin said.

" Yes _Mer_lin, I get it. I have gotten us into a huge mess, and it'll probably be awhile before we get out of it. _And,_ to add-on top of that, it's going to rain!" Arthur said. They had been there for a little more than a day and they were both starting to get on each others nerves.

" Arthur, it's just as much my fault as it is yours, but think of it this way, it could have easily been worse, I mean, we could have had to run away from that monster for _days_, and then it just would've tired us so much we would have collapsed from exhaustion, and _then _where would we be."

" Merlin."

" And, we'll be out of here in about three days."

" _Merlin."_

So I really don't think we have anything to worry about."

" Yes, we _do_ Merlin." Arthur was staring at something behind Merlin, and then he grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around.

" Arthur," Merlin said calmly," Are you looking at the same thing I am, because if you are, I need you to tell me if that's real." Flying before them, was a giant, ghostly white dragon. It had eight inch claws, and horrible yellow fangs. Along its spine were long, razor sharp spikes, and on its head were two, long, crooked horns. It looked nothing like Kilgarah, and it had a powerful aurora of evil magic. Arthur looked to Merlin, and said," Yes, Merlin, I am. And I really think we should run."

" That's a wonderful idea Arthur, let's do that." Merlin and Arthur turned to the forest, and started to run at a breakneck speed. Merlin let Arthur get quite a ways ahead of him, then turned around and muttered a few words under his breath in the dragons tongue. " _I command you to leave and do no harm to us." _The dragon kept getting closer and Merlin starred in shock for a few seconds, then turned and ran towards Arthur. Merlin had no idea why it hadn't worked, he was a dragon lord, and Kilgarah himself had told Merlin that a dragon could not disobey a dragon lord, no matter how much it wished to. _Then this was no real dragon,_ Merlin thought, it must have been conjured by a sorcerer, to try to kill Arthur. Merlin caught up to Arthur, but they were both starting to get tired, and Merlin knew they could not keep this up much longer. Even if they could, how would they outrun a _dragon,_ of all creatures. Merlin knew he had to do something, and fast, so did the first thing that came to mind. He made up a spell. Under his breath, Merlin muttered," _Take us to the place were we can escape this beast." _in the old tongue. Everything froze. Then, the world around Merlin and Arthur started to get blurry, and distant. Merlin couldn't see anymore, and colors blurred before his eyes, going faster and faster, until everything faded to black.

So there's chapter 4! Hope you liked it! please review, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Also, tell me if you are okay with this becoming a Harry Potter cross over, because i have a good storyline for it, but i want to know if anyone would read it than. It would have to do with a little future stuff,if it was going to be a cross over. if not though, i still have a storyline in mind. R&R - Ifanybodyasksimreading


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the wait! I've been sorta busy lately. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and for all the tips. Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter! If you have any questions, you can PM me. Enjoy! : )**

It was warm. That was the first thing Arthur noticed. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was going on a hunting trip with Merlin, when - oh. Everything came rushing back, right up to when there had been a blinding array of colors, going faster, and faster, until it stopped completely, and everything faded to black. That left him to his first question, just where exactly _was_ he? He tried to open his eyes - and immediately regretted it, as a blinding light obscured his vision, and sent waves of nausea through him. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the dizzy spell to go away. After a minute, he slowly opened his eyes. He was on a bed, laying on his back. There was a small table next to him, with a small tin cup of water, and a plate of bread. Arthur sat up, and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a small room, with a window at his left, and a door in front of him. His shoes and cloak were sitting on a chair near the door. He slowly climbed to his feet and walked through the door. As he left the room, he was greeted with the sight of Merlin, sitting down at a table in the center of the room. There was two other people at the table. A fairly old man, with short, gray hair, and a young boy that looked to be about five years old. Merlin looked to Arthur, and smiled. " Well, look who finally decided to wake up." Arthur was filled with annoyance, they had just been chased by a fire breathing dragon, and Merlin told him that apparently, he had been sleeping for a while. Where on earth was he anyway? He certainly didn't remember going here, let alone even getting away from the dragon. But maybe he had passed out, and Merlin had brought him here, that would explain the flashing colors and all that. But how had they escaped the dragon? Maybe it had something to do with the other people in the room. Arthur met Merlin's gaze before replying. " Yes, but may I ask, just where _are _we _Mer_lin! How did we get here!?"

" Ohhh... Well thats a long story, so why don't you sit down? By the way, this is Will and his grandson Brian." Merlin said. " So, do you want the short story, or the long story?"

" Short story."

" Ok, well, when we were being chased by the dragon, a sorcerer that happened to be in the area, cast a spell to transport us to somewhere safe, and we were here. You passed out when we got here, and you've been asleep for a couple hours. That pretty much sums it up, if you don't want all the details."

" Ok, so you still haven't answered my question, where are we? "

" We are in Cenred's kingdom, about six days away from Camelot." Merlin said. Will stood up and bowed to Arthur, saying," It is a great honor to have you, Arthur Pendragon, in my humble home. I will do everything in my power to make you and your friend comfortable. I have every reason to believe that you will be a great king."

" The honor is all mine, I will do my best to live up to your high expectations, and I can't thank you enough for your hospitality." Arthur said.

" Hold on a second, you're not upset that a sorcerer saved your life? " Merlin asked.

" Of course not. I am not my father Merlin, and my views have changed in the last year. I now believe that magic is not evil, but rather the people who wield it who choose to be good or evil. The events today have done nothing but strengthen that. I hope you respect my decision Merlin. " Arthur said.

" I do Arthur. You are very wise to come to this conclusion. But don't let that get to your head, we wouldn't want it falling off your shoulders now, would we?" Merlin said, smiling.

" Oh do shut up _Mer_lin."

" Fine, you great clotpole. " Merlin said. Arthur walked up and sat down at the table, next to Merlin and Will. Arthur then told Merlin, " We will leave later today for Camelot. We will have to move quickly to get to Camelot fast enough, before my father tears down the whole of Camelot looking for me. "

" I will prepare food for your journey. " Will said, hurrying off to the kitchen.

" So you're Arthur Pendragon. " Brian said, eyeing Arthur curiously.

" Yes, I am."

" You don't look very impressive. " Merlin snorted, and Arthur glared at him, but didn't reply.

" So _Mer_lin, how do you feel about cleaning the stables for the rest of the week? I hear they've been getting rather dirty. " Arthur said.

" Hey! What did I do? " Merlin protested.

" Exactly. " Arthur said. " Hey, I thought there was only one dragon left! Where did that white one come from?" Merlin stared at Arthur for a moment, and said, " I have no idea. Maybe that was no ordinary dragon. "

" So you're saying it was conjured by sorcery? "

" No, but-"

" That is a plausible explanation, but who made it? And why? "

" That's obvious, someone wanted you dead. " Merlin said. Will returned with the food and said, " Here is your food. I think this will be enough for your journey. " Will handed them a large bag stuffed to the brim with food.

" Thank very much for your kindness, you will be in my debt." Arthur said, then turned to Merlin. " Come on Merlin, we must leave now. " Arthur took the bag of food and walked out the door, followed by sun was high in the sky as they walked down the road. They had a long journey ahead of them, and no one could begin to imagine the events that would take place in the next few days.

**R&R! :) The next chapter will be up very soon.**


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